By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Anyone who loves nonsense literature can surely tell us the origins of the rather wonderful word ‘slithy’. But let’s make it a little more interesting and turn it into a multiple-choice quiz question. Who gave us the word ‘slithy’?
a) A man named Shakespeare
b) A man named Whately
c) A man named Brest
d) A man named Carroll
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Where does the word ‘alphabet’ originally come from? Let’s begin by posing the question as a quiz. We’ll make it multiple-choice so it’s (potentially) a bit easier.
So, here goes: where does the word ‘alphabet’ come from?
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
What does the word orange literally mean? What is the derivation or origin of orange? The word’s etymology is interesting, and also more than a little mysterious, so let’s take a closer look at the origins of the word orange.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Why is the left-hand side of a ship known as ‘port’, and why is the right-hand side of a ship known as ‘starboard’? What are the origins of these universally known words? And what do they have to do with the word ‘posh’?
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Had the history of the English language played out differently, instead of talking about being atheist we might be describing ourselves as atheal or declaring our atheonism.
Where does the word ‘atheism’ come from, and what does it mean? The origins of the term atheism are at once straightforward and complex, and the meaning of the word is often misconstrued – or, in some cases, only half-construed.
So let’s take a closer look at the etymology of the word, as well as what it means.